Here's part 7

They stood near each other in his cabin, an awkward silence filling the small room, engulfing both of them. Finally, Mike spoke, breaking the silence.
'He's mine, isn't he?' he asked his voice almost so quiet that she had to strain to hear what he had said. She knew it was coming to this, she had expected but that didn't stop the question from knocking her for six. She always dreamed of telling him, but in those dreams he had never met Will, had never had the chance to put the pieces together for himself and was most definitely looking at her like he was now, as though she had torn his heart into a million pieces. Her eyes met his and he silently begged her to put him out of his misery. She nodded, ever so slightly, as salty tears she had not realised had formed ran down her face.

His heart almost burst with pain in that second, he felt betrayed by the person he cared most about. It was like a million tiny knives all puncturing his heart at the same time, with one tiny nod she had conformed that Will was his son. A fact almost too shocking for him to believe in that moment; not because he didn't love Will but because he did. He had missed out on his life and it was all her fault.
'You never told me.' He said his tone abrupt and harsh, 'What you never thought that it was important to mention to me that I had a son, because really it is an insignificant detail!'
'Mike' she said, her voice weak and unusually quiet.
'Don't Mike me' He cut her off. 'You had so many chances, had so many opportunities to tell me but not a word'
'Mike, please' she begged the tears still streaming down her face; she was struggling to regain control.
'I don't care what you've got to say. Nothing will excuse the fact that you lied. You lied to me Kate.' She felt as if she could almost see his broken heart as he looked at her. At that moment the intercom near his desk burst into life. The voice of the Nav clearly floated through the room.
'Sir, could you come up to the bridge please?' A silence filled the room as the meaning of the words sunk in. He looked up at her, with his eyes so full of sadness. Without a word, he left her standing there in the middle of his cabin.

She stood there for a minute trying to hide away all the emotions and return to the role of calm and controlled Lieutenant Kate McGregor, but she was unable to think of anything but Mike. The conversation was playing over and over again in her mind and she couldn't seem to get the image of his broken hearted look out of her head. It was too much, she couldn't seem to stop the warm tears from pouring down her face once again as she released all the emotion that she had been carrying around. She sunk to the ground, her knees hitting the floor hard as they gave way from under her. Her body shook with each sob. She just sat there and cried and cried, her hot tears running down her face. Her hands shook as she tried to brush them away, her sobs echoing around the empty room. She was alone in that second, more alone than she had ever felt on the Hammersley before.

An hour later she had no more tears to cry. She was still sitting on the floor, her legs spread out in front of her and she leaned back against Mike's bed. She had to be on watch in ten minutes, she realised as she looked up at the clock on his desk. She had ten minutes to pick herself up and control herself before she had to face everyone again. Kate just wanted this day to be over, she wanted to go back to base and take her son home and lie in bed and sleep with him wrapped safely in her arms. She stood up and her legs felt like jelly beneath her, she gripped the wall quickly to stop herself losing her balance. She took a deep breath; it filled her lungs completely for a second before she slowly let it out. She lifted her head and squared her shoulders, only four more hours and then you can go home a small voice in her head assured her and she finally brought herself to leave the safety of his cabin and come face to face with him once again.

He looked up as she entered the cabin, he didn't know if he could stand seeing her in that moment. His insides still burned with anger when he thought of their conversation but there was something else now that overpowered this anger and it was hurt. She had broken him. His entire life as he knew it had been turned upside down, nothing was sure at the moment. Normally her closeness comforted him, but at that moment he couldn't even look at her, it hurt too much.

TBC